British Heart Foundation

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) funds research, education, care and awareness campaigns aimed to prevent heart disease. This charity is a member of the AMRC.

In a letter to SPUC dated 22 October 2010, Betty McBride, BHF's director of policy and communications, said that the British Heart Foundation:

currently funds more than £12 million of stem cell research using both embryonic and adult stem cells. SPUC comment: Human embryos are human beings from the moment of their conception (fertilisation or an analogous form of creation such as cloning). Removing stem cells from them abuses and usually kills them.

does not have a policy on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) but added that the more "...we learn about the genetic causes of cardiovascular disease, it may become possible for PGD to be used."

does not fund research into prenatal diagnosis of disability or provide advice on where such tests can be obtained

funds training for ultrasonographers who undertake foetal scans in early pregnancy to identify congenital heart disease. SPUC comment: One possible purpose of discovering heart disease in the unborn is to enable parents to choose to abort their affected child.

In a policy statement, the charity confirmed that they “currently fund research involving embryonic and adult stem cells.”

Please send any information you may have about this charity to SPUC, either by email to rhoslynthomas@spuc.org.uk or by post to SPUC HQ.​